Ajia used to live in New York City, where she had a long history of successful close relationships, and attractive men often asked her out. She now lives in Laramie, Wyoming, where she is in what she considers a rather poor relationship with Tom, a man she finds insensitive, although he is better than the other options available in her smaller community. From the perspective of social exchange theory, Ajia is in a situation where her:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

According to social exchange theory, individuals evaluate their relationships by comparing their current outcomes (what they receive from the relationship) to their comparison level (CL, their expectations for what they should receive in a relationship based on past experiences) and their comparison level for alternatives (CL alt, their expectations for what they could receive in alternative relationships). In Ajia's case, she finds Tom to be insensitive and not as good a partner as she has had in the past, indicating that her outcome is lower than her CL. However, she also recognizes that there are few other options available in her smaller community, indicating that her outcome exceeds her CL alt. Therefore, the best answer is C, where Ajia's CL exceeds her outcome and her outcome exceeds her CL alt.

Ajia Used to Live in New York City, Where She